Gravid?

[chase31157]

* Cage Type - glass front, back and bottom; screen doors on sides and top, approximate dimensions: 30x29x12 inches
* Lighting - 75 watt UVA heat lamp, 15 watt UVB strip light
* Temperature - day 80-85 F, night 70-75 F
* Humidity - usually around 50%, I use an automatic mister, a drip line, and I also spray down the leaves in the cage a few times a day
* Plants - a few fake plants; I have a real pothos, hibiscus, and ficus that I will be putting into a new cage that I am setting up for her
* Placement - the cage is on top of my dresser. The top of the cage is about 6 feet off the floor
* Location - Colorado

Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - veiled female, between 6 months and 1 year old
* Handling - very rarely; she does not like to be held
* Feeding - I feed her medium crickets, phoenix worms, butterworms, and kale. Between all the different types of insects, I feed her about the equivalent of 6 crickets per day.
* Supplements - I use Rep-Cal phosphorous-free calcium with Vit D3 and Rep-Cal Herptivite multivitamins with beta carotene, each every 2 weeks. I also use Rep-Cal calcium without Vit D3 3 times per week.
* Watering - I have a drip line set up but I have never seen her drink the water off the leaves. I have been spraying her crickets with water before I feed her as a way to keep her hydrated.
* Fecal Description - looks normal; there is both a black part and a white part

My concern is that for the last 3 days my cham has been showing her dark colors the way she does when she is stressed. She did this for about a half a day before she shed for the first time, but three days seems a bit excessive, and there are no other signs of shedding yet. Two days ago she stayed in the same spot for almost the entire day, and her mid-section looked very plump. Today she does not look as fat, and she is moving around a lot more, although she has not been searching the bottom of the cage, which I know is a sign that they are looking for an egg-laying site. So I guess my question is, does anyone know why she would be so dark for 3 days straight. Could she be pregnant? (Also, she is my only cham, so if she does have eggs, they would be unfertilized). Thank you!

 

[Jonas]

Its hard to tell from that picture, could you try to take one from the rear and from above, so we can se the "belly".

Again, its hard to tell from that pic, but she does look like she has the typical turquoise pattern of spots along the top of her back, even if I cant see the color that good.

You should have a good place for her to dig for now, just incase.

 

[chase31157]

Here is a picture from above. Her belly does not look that big, but it was pretty big two days ago. Since my last post I have seen her at the bottom of the cage twice. I am working on an egg-laying bin right now, and I will post more pictures if she moves to a spot in her cage where I can get good ones.

 

[Jonas]

I cant see that "robin egg blue" that is usually there in gravid females. If there are some eggs in there, it would be a small batch, its not looking lika a huge belly.

 

[chase31157]

Ok, well thank you for your replies. I'll let you know if there are any other changes.

 

[chase31157]

So when I got home today and tried to feed Charlotte, she had no interest in eating. She loves her food and has never refused to eat before! I usually feed her 1 insect at a time, several times throughout the day. She ate 2 crickets, a butter worm, and 2 small phoenix worms, but when I offered her another cricket this afternoon, she did not want it at all. I then offered her a butter worm and she almost seemed scared of it. Any ideas as to why?

 

[jannb]

Do you have a laying bin for her? If not get one.....just in case......you don't want her to become egg bound. I would also start feeding her everyother day and drop her temps to about 80 or 81.

 

[chase31157]

Yes, I have a large plastic container filled with moist sand. When I put it in her cage, she got very nervous. She kept staring down at it and her brown spots became a very dark green, almost black. After about an hour she calmed down, though, and now she is asleep. If she needs to lay eggs will she know to use it? I made an appointment with a vet to have her checked out. She is my first chameleon, so I am very worried about her because I don't know what to expect.

 

[chase31157]

Well I went to the vet and found out that she does in fact have some eggs in her. The vet, who specializes in birds and reptiles, seemed to be very knowledgable. He told me to use moss in the laying bin, whereas almost everything I have read on this forum says to use damp sand. Is she more likely to use one over the other? Is there anything I can do that would encourage her to lay the eggs? Any suggestions from anyone who has had a gravid female would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Jonas]

The material you use does not matter, just the result, meaning you should be able to dig a 30 cm hole without the material caving in.
I have used sand, peat mulch, planting soil, you name it.

I know most people put a egg bin in the cage, and I think you should too.
However, I use a more "aggressive" method for calyptratus. Its not as bad as it sounds.
When/if I notice the female starting to get restless and testdigging here and there, I simply put her in an external laying bin. Basically a big bucket. The sides should be high enough so she cant reach up and get out. I cover it up with cloth od some kind and set a dim light over it so se has privacy and some soft light to work in.

The thing with this method is that she has nothing else to do in the bucket but dig. I cant proove it, but I suspect this method even has a slight inducing effect, they seem to get very stimulated to dig this way.
If she has not started digging in an hour or so (and its rare), I just put her back in the cage and try the next day or so.

This has worked like a sharm for me over the years, raising almost two hundred calyptratus. I call it "the bucket method". The efficiency and speed of this method seem to spare the female the trouble of looking around for a good spot and saves her some energy.

 

[chase31157]

Ok thank you so much! I have tried this a couple of times and all she does is scratch at the sides of the bucket trying to get out, but I will keep trying and hope for the best